#and i was thinking that it would take me at least 10 or 15 sessions with rory because i can get maaaaaybe 5 reps of any behaviour

[abirddogmoment]

i hope i never stop being amazed at the power of latent learning, like wow how cool is it to practice something a little bit, take a long break so it can sink in, and then return and do it beautifully??? amazing phenomenal and so so cool

[jokeroutsubs]

Interview with Joker Out's member Nace Jordan, from Slovenian magazine Kranjčanka!

"Enriched by a special experience"

We caught up with Nace Jordan, bassist of Joker Out, a week or so after the Eurovision show in Liverpool, a few days after the show in Zagreb, and just before they left for the show in Dublin, where they sold out their first show in twenty minutes… On stage, they kept company to the Irish performers.

The fact that this guy, who is otherwise from Mlaka (T.N: small village near Kranj), is fully booked, can be confirmed by telling you that he moved into a new flat in March of this year - he has been living in Ljubljana for some time now - but he has spent less than 14 days there until it was time for the Eurovision Song Contest. He still returns to Kranj at least twice a week to visit his mother and to stay true to himself: he decided to get a personal trainer a while ago, so now he also goes to Kranj to train there.

Nace Jordan came into contact with music in primary school. He first played the guitar, which he soon replaced with the bass guitar. "Around the fifth grade of primary school (T.N: 10-11 years old), I became interested in instruments and a classmate and I decided to start a music group. He bought a drum set and I bought an electric guitar. Then we quickly saw that there were no bass players. So I sold the guitar and bought a bass guitar," he explains. He has no formal musical training, but says he has been lucky that wherever he has gone in life, there has always been a good mentor who has been able to guide him.

I: How long did this primary school group last?

N: In those days it was a well-known Kranj band called Success. We did a lot of gigs. It's interesting that all the band members from that time are now living off music. They are, for example, the guitarist Nejc Ušlakar, Tajda Jovanović - also from Mlaka - who is a top classical singer and used to sing at the famous Scala in Milan; if I am not mistaken, she is now teaching classical singing in Dubai. We just created an environment for ourselves and stayed in music. The drummer and keyboard player, Aljaž Bernik and Miha Petrovič, have, for example, a very successful wedding band, called Pop Deluxe.

I: What came after primary school? (* (T.N: In Slovenia, primary school lasts for 9 years, from ages 6-15)

N: I enrolled at the then Iskra University, majoring in mechatronics, but just before graduation I started working - actually playing on a cruiser. By some chance I found myself at a jam session open mind in Kranj, where the Kranj drummer Rok Rozman was looking for someone to go on the boat with him. He was impressed with me, I auditioned and of course they weren't very happy at home when I confronted them with the fact that I was going to take my final exams the following year. I was just 18 years old.

I: Was that a cruise ship?

N: Yes. We were travelling in the Baltic Ocean. I remember that we started in Germany, in a port north of Hamburg, then continued on to Gdansk, St Petersburg and to the Scandinavian countries.

l: That was probably the only time you've been on a cruise ship of that kind, a tourist cruise ship?

I've had a lot of people ask me if I would ever go on holiday on a cruise ship. Probably not. But I would go and have another look at the one I played on.

I: When you came back to Slovenia, did you graduate from high school? N: I didn't and I still regret it a little bit. When I came back from the ship, I started working with the singer Katarina Malo. During that time, I was also taken under the wing of two musicians from Primorska (T.N.: a region in the South-Western part of Slovenia) - that's what I mentioned: I found myself somewhere and then a mentor came along. I learned a lot from them. They were David Morgan and Denis Beganovic - Kiki. The first one is a top jazz drummer from the coastal area, he organises a lot of stuff, and he also plays with Avtomobili (T.N. slovenian band), I think he even played with Plestenjak (T.N. Jan Plestenjak, a famous Slovenian pop singer) at one point. Whereas Kiki is a multi-instrumentalist. He's an extraordinary talent. He has worked with Kanzyani and other famous DJs and musicians from abroad. He has made a lot of music, and he also led the Big Band from the coastal region. That was a really nice period for me. I even moved to the coastal region for a short period.

I: Why music, why not football?

N: Certainly not football (laughs). It's the sport I'm least talented in, or rather, all ball sports fall into that context - be it table tennis or football; and, even though my surname is Jordan, I'm the worst basketball player in the world (laughs). Just two days ago, I met my first grade teacher, and of course the topic of music and Eurovision came up. She told me that she knew even back then that school was not for me, but that I would definitely do something creative in my life. It brought back memories of how bored I was at school and how I would rather draw under my desk than listen, even though I was not a bad student.

I: You haven't been a member of Joker Out for long.

N: Since last year. Martin Jurkovič, the original bass player, felt at some point that music was not his main path. He is also an extremely talented programmer and is studying in that direction. He wants to study abroad and decided to finish that chapter. I knew the lead singer of the band, Bojan, from some mutual friend groups before, and the guys were looking for someone who was around their age, professional, good at what they do, and they thought of me. And Martin was in favour of me coming into the group instead of him.

I: And did you imagine that the band would continue the way it did?

N: From the beginning I went into the band with a bit of hesitation. I even suggested a test period. I had learnt that there has to be chemistry between the members. And if we didn't get along with each other the way we do, we wouldn't have performed on the Eurovision stage. We would have had a fight otherwise.

I: Do you spend a lot of time together?

N: First there were the Eurovision showcase concerts, and now there is the summer concert tour in Slovenia. We also have quite a few problems, because we get a lot of calls from abroad. It's logistically difficult, so we're looking for a solution to link some of the concerts to the tour. After the Eurovision Song Contest, we really started to get noticed abroad.

I: Was this your first Eurovision Song Contest?

N: Yes. But I have been to EMA (slovenian national selection for ESC) several times before.

I: Was it as you imagined it would be?

N: Even better. I can say that everyone who has been through this kind of experience has told us that it will be really tough: there will be a lot of work, but that we should also expect crazy parties. But in the end, it was much less exhausting than we expected. In fact, we had such a busy schedule beforehand that Eurovision itself was almost easier for us afterwards. We were practically in the Arena for five days, the rest was socialising, interviews and other commitments. In principle, we like that.

I: You seemed to be well received.

N: We were lucky enough to have connected with practically all the performers. We were always in a good mood, which was seen and felt both in the performances and in the interviews, during the statements. We came home really enriched by a special experience. And it was really nice to see how the people at home supported us. After the first semi-final, we got some footage of how they were watching us and we were just amazed how behind Bežigrad (Ljubljana district), let's say, they watched the first semi-final show in an organised way. The energy was crazy, like at a match.

I: What about Liverpool? Was there any time to "play tourists"?

N: During Eurovision, not really. We were in Liverpool before, because we were shooting a video. I think it was after Barcelona, and we did a lot of walking around the city then. For those who like the Beatles, Liverpool is great.

I : How did it come about that you went to Eurovision in the first place?

N : When I came into the group, the guys and I immediately started talking about whether we would go to this year's EMAs. We decided to go. We knew we would definitely be one of the favourites because we have a really big and extremely loyal audience. Well, then the EMA didn't happen. The jury decided to make their own choice, from the five entries who had the most songs of the week during that year. And I think only two of us ended up applying. There was no EMA, and they sent us to Liverpool.

I: You mostly use Slovenian in your songs.

N: Of course. We have a few songs in English, but we mostly sing in Slovenian. We were talking about how we would work going forwards, and we agreed not to bother with the language. We are proud of our Slovenian language. It's really something beautiful when you see an adult Peruvian man or a five-year-old Spanish girl singing our song in Slovenian. In that moment you understand the athletes and you are proud to be Slovenian.

I: How is it on the street? Do people recognise you? You often hear: is that the bass player of Joker Out?

N: Yes, quite. Most of the time it's people who say something nice to you, or want a selfie. Of course, there are also some "admirers" who stick gum all over my car or leave messages. There's a good side and a bad side to being a public personality. Sometimes it requires of you to spend three hours taking photos - but if you enjoy doing something, that's not a problem either.

I: Do you think that it is actually the fact that you get along well in a group that "pulls" in the audience?

N: The energy between us is definitely something that is contagious. I don't know if it's what makes the audience really like us, but it's something that puts even someone who is in a bad mood in a good mood.

Translation by @kurooscoffee (jokeroutsubs). DO NOT REPOST!

[omniwhore]

Ways to trick yourself to Go Outside

@thelostones-world asked about some ways to battle the AuDHD urge to stay in cave tm nd get the delicious outdoor stimulation

I decided to do a full blown post in hopes that it might help others, so here’s a few suggestions for

when you don’t wanna go out but know it would make you feel better

- ✨splish splosh water on face✨

In effort to feel less dissociated nd foggy and more in touch with your body and needs, I recommend something that helps me come back into my body - go to the bathroom and splash your face with cold/room temperature water.

Additionally you can put on a skin cream or moisturizer to further ground yourself nd reconnect with feeling physically present in your body.

This should help you feel more ready to spring into action!

- 🌤️open window sniff the air🌤️

One way to trick myself into being excited abt leaving the apartment nd going outside is to open a window and just,,, stare outside, feel the sunshine or the wind on your skin, smell the fresh air, listen to the hum nd sounds that are suddenly that much closer....

It helps me remember the good feeling of being outside and feeling so happy and stimulated and grounded. Then I just remind myself that more of this is only a couple steps away!

- 👚prepare an outfit in advance👚

Another way to trick yourself into being more amenable to leaving the house is to take time the day prior to prepare the outfit you’ll wear.

Aim for whatever you’d like to prioritize - comfort/safety, your favorite style that you want to show off, something you've been waiting for an excuse to wear, or something that reminds you of the location you want to visit.

(ie. goblincore outfit for a walk in the park, cottagecore outfit for a farmer's market, academia outfit for a library visit or a café study/art/reading session etc.)

Having an outfit already put together that you can just slip into gives your brain less opportunities to chicken out - and can help you get hyped up for whatever you're about to go do!

- 🌸gamify your outings🌸

Give yourself a mission (instead of writing down "go for a walk" in your planner, write "go on foot to {location} and back" or "walk outside for {n} minutes" or "collect 5 fallen leaves").

Boom! Now your brain won't get overwhelmed by ohmygod there’s so many things I could be doing what about we just abandon it altogether???

You have a mission to focus on. And when you're done, it's up to you whether you wanna keep going or whether you wanna head back home. For me, even a 10 or 15 min walk can make a big difference if I haven't been out for days.

- 📒plan things ahead of time📒

I always found meticulous planning vry comforting for my autistic side. It makes it significantly easier to psych myself up for something involving leaving the house if I let myself know that it's happening at least three days in advance.

Think about sitting down with a planner or a plain notebook, or your phone calendar (so handy! can include pings, map routes, and any additional info u might need to complete the mission!) and brainstorming some activities you'd like to do outdoors!

- 💚make plans with others💚

Hanging out with your friends in person if you can is a great way to make yourself show up, and is generally super good for your brain!

Idk about you, but if I told a friend I’m gonna be there at 5, I am gonna be there at god damned 5!!!

- 🎟️purchase tickets for events🎟️

Check facebook, reddit or whatever neighborhood (online) space you can come by for free or affordable events in your area!

Whether the goal is to be around people nd feel less anxious/alienated, or to just feed your brain some delicious stimulation at the museum or a pop up market, purchasing a ticket for an event can hold you more accountable to show up!

(Again recommend sitting down and planning at least 3 days ahead as to not have a meltdown abt the stress of figuring out the logistics)

[3raaaachachacha]

8:53 pm

Yang Jungwon x female reader / 662 words / fluff

Warnings: None

⊱ ──────────────────────── ⊰

What better way to spend the night with a group of rowdy boys than to play truth or dare? Your friend was invited over to Jake’s, but thankfully, you knew most of the boys prior to classes. Jungwon and Niki had grown on you the most since your personalities clicked best, but you couldn’t help think how cute Jungwon was, especially when his dimples came out. 

“Truth or dare Hoon?” Your friend asked as she giggled, making him blush slightly.

“Dare,” Sunghoon challenged, seeming confident until he heard the dare.

“I dare you to go out and get the number of a random girl on the street. You have 15 minutes,” Your friend said as the group erupted into laughter.

“15 minutes? How can I? Wow, that’s a rude dare,” Sunghoon stood up, putting his coat on, “I’ll be back in 10,” He smirked before running out the door.

“Okay, let’s continue since it may be a second before he comes back. Jungwon, truth or dare?” Your friend asked, everyone focusing on him.

“Uh, truth?” Jungwon said hesitantly. He wasn’t really into the whole truth or dare game since depending on the person, the questions or dares could be outrageous. 

“Do you like someone here? If so, who?” The question lingered as it made it a bit obvious the answer was indeed yes, but he wasn’t comfortable confessing just yet.

You noticed how uncomfortable he became as you moved towards him, “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to-”

You were cut off before you could finish by Jungwon standing up and leaving the house. There was a lot of confusion in the room as Heeseung stood up, “I’ll go talk to him.”

You followed, putting a hand on Heeseung’s arm to stop him, “I’ll go,” With that, you grabbed your coat, leaving the house to follow Jungwon. It didn’t take long for you to catch up to him, grabbing onto his arm, only for him to pull it away. 

“Put your coat on. It’s wintertime and you’ll get sick. We don’t have to talk about what just happened, but you do need to be smart at least,” You said, realizing how embarrassed he was, and you knew why.

For a while now, Jungwon had a crush on you and you knew about it. Niki had accidentally told you while studying and somehow you weren’t surprised, but you were filled with joy since you liked him back. 

Jungwon took the coat, putting it on, while fidgeting with his fingers, “Sorry about just running out of there like that. I just don’t really like those games,” He trailed off. You grabbed his arm, pulling him towards a bench for the two of you to sit on.

You smiled at him as he avoided your gaze, “I like you too, just so you know.”

His eyes went wide as his mouth dropped a bit, now turning towards you, “How did you-”

“Niki, being Niki, let it slip during a study session, and I’m honest happy he did,” You took his cold hand into your warm ones, “Or else I would never had the courage to confess myself.”

His cute dimples came out as a smile crept onto his face, “Well, I guess since the cats out of the bag, I really like you as well.”

“What are you doing next weekend?” You asked, standing up and pulling him with you as he almost stumbled into you. The two of you giggled at his clumsy actions.

“Nothing, what’s up?” Jungwon asked, hands still connected.

“Good because you’re taking me on our first date then,” You cheerfully smiled and the two of you walked back to the apartment, “I like Italian food, so you know.”

“I’ll take note of that. I’ll take note of all the little things about you so I can make sure to keep that pretty smile of yours on your face at all times,” He winked, making you blush from his sweet comment. 

⊱ ──────────────────────── ⊰

- Admin 🦋

[jazz-bazz]

the lab coat au brainrot be brainrotting, i had class today and i keep thinking of alpha as my prof… i walk through my building and i keep thinking of sunny getting lost… so here we have sunshine and mountain‘s first meeting, yay!

Flower Bookmarks

Friday afternoons are usually reserved for pack, Mountain usually got lunch with the others and then near the end of the work day they usually gather in an empty classroom to play some boardgames, Catan is a group favourite for some reason, or maybe because it’s the only one they have here on campus, and then usually they’d end the day at Zenith, where they’d watch Zephyr play and Swiss sing, Aether loosening up with his boyfriend Copia, owner and bartender of Zenith, after a whole day of quantum equations and whatever, and also watching Rain and Dew pining over each other obliviously.

But this Friday is unusual, Mountain couldn’t get lunch with the pack, he had some problems with his reaction and had to redo it, also he probably wouldn’t be able to join the board game session if he wanted to at least isolate something today, and then maybe he’ll have enough time to evaporate the solvent and take an NMR spectrum of the isolated substance that he can work on on the weekend and report to Cumulus on Monday.

He finally has about 2 hours to get something to eat, while his reaction is cooking and Swiss said he’s going to keep an eye on it while Mountain is out. So here he is, on his way to Caféine in hopes of some muffins or bagels, if there are any left, if not then Terzo’s diner it is, even though it’s going to take longer and he’s still anxious about his reaction.

He was still thinking if he should’ve used a different catalyst for this one, when suddenly someone bumped into him. It’s a woman, ghoulette too, judging by her scent and the slight magic he sensed, though he can’t pinpoint the element, so maybe a multi ghoulette? In any case, she’s someone he’s never seen before, with curly bright orange hair, who was apparently also distracted by something on her phone, “Oh my, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” The tiny woman said.

“No harm done, I was also not paying attention,” Mountain shrugged, “Anyways, have a good day!”

“Wait a second, could I ask you a question, I’m kinda new here.”

“Oh, sure! Shoot! I’m Mountain by the way, earth if it’s not obvious from the name,” Mountain smiled.

“I’m Sunshine, or Sunny, air and fire, and I’m looking for Professor Alpha’s room, I’m supposed to meet him in about 10 minutes and I’ve been going around and around looking for his room, mind telling me where it is?”

“I could show you, c’mon,” Mountain said while walking in the direction of the physchem section of the building, “So, physical chemistry huh? PhD or Master?”

“Master, and yeah, his research sounds interesting and not that far from what I did for my Bachelor’s so… here I am. And thank you so much, Mountain.”

“Not a problem, I’ve been needing some distractions today. It’s been a long day and nothing is working yet.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, do you also work here?”

“Yeah, I’m doing my PhD research under Professor Cumulus, you were in the organic chemistry section before, no Professor Alpha over there,” Mountain smirked.

“Stop it,” Sunshine laughed, “This is barely even my first day here, and the internet page is not helping at all.”

“I don’t think they’ve updated it since ages ago,” Mountain said with a chuckle, “And here we are, Alpha’s office.”

“Oh, again, thank you so much, Mountain!”

“If the meeting doesn't take too long and you’re free afterwards, would you maybe be interested in getting lunch with me? Not like a date or something, but just friends you know? I could show you a few things around campus and, yeah, something like that,” Mountain stammered with a blush high on his cheeks.

“Sure, I think we’re just gonna talk about my schedule for next week and the general premise of what I will be doing, so maybe 10 to 15 minutes? Is that okay or are you in a rush?”

“No, no that’s fine, I don’t have anything urgent unless my reaction explodes or something, but my friend is keeping an eye there. Go, Alpha doesn’t like it when people are late.”

“Oh right, thank you!”

Mountain waited outside Alpha’s office while fiddling on his phone, annoying Swiss by asking him about his reaction, even though they both know it’s fine, Mountain followed all the steps carefully and it’s not gonna explode or anything. Just then Omega walks by, a bit surprised to see Mountain in the physchem area, “Hi Mountain, fancy seeing you here.”

“Oh, hi Meg, Alpha gets a new ghoul and she got lost in our area, so I took her here and we are going to get lunch to get to know each other because she’s new and all, and I didn’t get lunch with the others earlier.”

“Huh,” Omega nodded, “Reaction problems?” He asked, earning a nod from Mountain, “Well good luck with that, and with the lady. Have a nice date! I’ll tell Dew and Aether not to disturb you.”

“Thanks! Wait, what? It’s not a date Meg!” But Omega is already walking away, back to his own office.

[champagnepodiums]

F1 Drivers IG Gains: Miami Race Weekend Report

HELLO PALS i am back, here to subject you to more of my ramblings mixed in with the data that you're actually here to see. i do think for the time being i will likely only post a singular report at the end of the race weekend. in the past i would post after every session and while i still take numbers every day, now that the weather is warm, i don't have as much time (i birthed an outdoor child, i am an indoor person).

ANYWAY enough about me, here are the followers each driver gained over the Miami race weekend:

Charles Leclerc: +88,371 followers

okay listen, somehow after all this time, i still find myself surprised by charles' gains. miami, the fifth race, so far is his highest gains for a race weekend (most drivers have the biggest gains in round 1 and never surpass that). and he did it without getting pole or winning. i do think he is currently f1's tragic hero but mannnn, people are really responding to it. for the full week, charles gained 128k which is the highest he's gained in a week since the season has started. i had originally hypothesized that maybe charles' gains would fade if ferrari did not contend for the championship at all this season but apparently not! charles is also about 10k behind fernando for season gains so i think he will be the second most gaining f1 driver sooner than later.

2. Lewis Hamilton: +65,207 followers

after baku i had wondered if we would see lewis with a rebound in Miami and i can say now that yes, he did have a bit of a rebound. i honestly had expected a bit more, i thought he'd be at least in the 70k range BUT i think mercedes' performance (or lack of) dampens his race weekend numbers.

3. Sergio Perez: +52,388 followers

Even though Checo didn't win the race, he outgained his Baku numbers (when he did win). miami was the second highest gaining race weekend for Checo even. (it is a good time to point out that across the board, miami's gains were higher than what they were at baku)

Going to list some now:

4. Carlos Sainz: +37,793 followers

5. Fernando Alonso: +35,333 followers

6. Max Verstappen: +21,265 followers

7. Pierre Gasly: +13,508 followers

8. George Russell: +12,666 followers

9. Lando Norris: +11,565 followers

10. Yuki Tsunoda: +10,555 followers

11. Logan Sargeant: +10,311 followers

perhaps people will be surprised/disappointed by the low number that logan has gained BUT i think it's important to know that this is the second-highest race weekend gain wise for logan (and his weekly numbers are the second-highest of the season as well, second to bahrain). so perhaps the gains could have been bigger but for logan, i think they were healthy (esp since the man disappeared and was never heard from during the race womp womp)

12. Oscar Piastri: +6,891 followers

13. Lance Stroll: +6,692 followers

14. Zhou Guanyu: +6,489 followers

15. Esteban Ocon: +5,782 followers

16. Kevin Magnussen: +5,659 followers

17. Nico Hulkenberg: +5,190 followers

18. Alex Albon: +4,773 followers

19. Nyck Devries: +3,669 followers

20. Valtteri Bottas: +3,062 followers

Collectively, this was the 3rd highest gaining race (behind Bahrain and Jeddah).

Tell me your thoughts!

[funwithshoujocosette]

Bad time for Gabriel

Gavroche: So about the next segment...

Javert: We're waiting for him, and that's final.

Gavroche: I am not against it, but are you sure you want to be around him when we start announcing his mistakes?

Javert: If his displeasure isn't something you can handle, I suggest you leave the premises for this session and come back when this segment is finished.

Gavroche: ...No, I'll stay. If only as a moral support. He needs someone who is on his side.

Narrator: Hey, I am on his side too, you know!

Matthieu: As am I.

Andre, Alexander, Pierre, Jehan, Claude, Olivier and Georges: As are we.

Javert: So you say, but I believe that at least some of you wish to see him squirm.

Valjean and Gabriel: *arrive*

Javert: Here they are. Now we can start.

Gavroche: *hands a sheaf of papers over to Valjean*

Valjean: Right....ah...bulletins 10-20...

Gabriel: That's more bulletins than last time.

Javert: Just sit tight and listen.

Bulletin 10: Don't mock the Law.

Gabriel: Did you write that?

Javert: *is smirking openly*

Valjean: Right...I am not sure how that's in any way related to his flaws...

Gabriel: That's because it isn't! Law isn't synonymous with justice!

Valjean: I agree, and I think it's best if we moved on.

Bulletin 11: Violence isn't the only way to achieve your goals.

Valjean: Okay, this one I actually agree with.

Gabriel: I don't.

Narrator: We know, which is why this segment exists in the first place.

Bulletin 12: Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

Valjean: I don't understand this one

Gabriel: Me neither.

Andre: Basically, it means don't make assumptions early on, for the situation may change rather suddenly.

Gabriel: Thank you.

Valjean: *looks at the next bulletin* All right, could you leave us alone for this one?

Everyone except Valjean, Gabriel and Javert leaves

Valjean: You as well.

Javert: Nope, I am staying right here. Besides, the description in that bulletin applies to me as well.

Valjean: *sighs and pulls the lever, getting rid of Javert for a while* Now that he is out of the way, let's continue.

Bulletin 13: Listen to your elders.

Gabriel: That seems out of place on this list.

Valjean: *sits down beside him* And yet I seem to recall certain other conversation which started out just like this.

Gabriel: I remember... *sighs and looks away*

Valjean: *gently* So why didn't you?

Gabriel: There are more important things than one's life.

Valjean: Maybe you get to decide that for yourself, but you don't get to decide that for everyone else. Especially not for those who love you.

Gabriel: *is unsure about what to say to that*

Bulletin 13: Do not throw your life away needlessly.

Gabriel: *is silent*

Valjean: Let me tell you a story I witnessed myself. It involves a mother and a daughter. A mother sought a job in a city on a coast, in order to provide for herself and her daughter. The mayor of that town owned a factory in which she found work. But the mayor was so absorbed by his own problems that he paid no attention to her getting fired right in front of him. She was forced into doing several ill-advised things because of that. Eventually, she met the mayor again. She accused him of this, to his face, and rightly so. From there, things went to bad to worse. The mother and daughter never saw each other again.

Gabriel: That's...

Valjean: The exact type of thing you sought to prevent from happening again. But it can happen the other way around too. How do you think your parents would have taken the news of your death, which they must have received by now?

Gabriel: They...they would be...we didn't part ways on the best of the terms.

Valjean: If you are trying to say that they would be glad, then you are mistaken.

Bulletin 14: Do not take the lives of others arbitrarily.

Bulletin 15: Change takes time, but when it happens, its impact is even bigger.

Valjean: Right, then. I suspect that our alone time is coming to an end.

Gabriel: Sounds about right.

Valjean: But I will remain seated right here, just in case.

Gabriel: You're just a big softie, are you not?

Valjean: I never pretended to be anything else.

[strwbrryk1tkat]

Band Mates Chater 1

author's note:

HI all!!! I just want to preface that this is my first time uploading a piece of writing on tumblr. With every new chapter released I will be updating the Band Mates Soundtrack playlist on spotify so feel free to listen to that while you read!!

First, I just want to say THIS FIRST CHAPTER IS NOT THE BEST. If it was up to me tbh this first chapter would not exist, but unfortunately for all of us, the information in this chapter is relevant. I am working on chapter 2 as we speak.

Second, Everything about this story is completely original. The plot and characters all came to me in a dream (lol). I know the only other work on my acc is a fic (😭😭) and that’s like what ao3 is known for, but i just couldn’t think of which universe and which characters would work best for this so i decided to go rogue

Third and last, for this I just have to save plsss be patient with me updating chapters. I’m in my last like 2/3 weeks of high school and i have A LOT going on. Again, this chapter is super short and feels super rushed but that was the best way for me to provide this context.

THANK YOU AND ENJOY

Part 1

Band Member Needed to fill an open space Guitarist and Lead singer suddenly quit Call or Text: ***-***-****

I snap a picture of the poster hanging up on the corkboard in my local cafe. I never look at this thing but the one time I do it presents me with a fabulous opportunity. I’ve had nothing to do since finals ended 2 weeks ago. I feel like I’ve been wasting my time just going between work, home, and the cafe, so this is perfect. My next session starts in about 10 minutes so as I make my way over I shoot them a quick text.

Hey, saw ur poster. when r auditions?

Time to wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

”Just remember what I showed you, the easiest way is to start by memorizing the dates then adding the events.” Jason’s mom hands me my 40 for the session. I honestly feel bad taking it, this kid has not gotten any better, and history is such a hard subject to tutor in. I pull out the phone to check the time when I see a new text.

Whenever ur available

I shoot back.

How about right now.

I get another text with an address. Cool. The location is about 5 minutes from my apartment which is about 10 minutes from Jason’s house.

Be there in 15

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ”No, absolutely not,” the speaker turns to me. “She can’t join.” “Levi, she’s the only one who responded, the least we can do is let her audition.” “We don’t even know if she can sing let alone play guitar.” “That’s the point of the audition, bud.” The guy standing at the keyboard says. They’re talking like I’m not standing in front of them listening to their whole conversation. And who does this ‘Levi’ guy think he is? I’m standing right here with my guitar case. The guy who must be the leader steps forward and stretches out his hand. “Hey, I’m Graham. I play lead guitar but I don’t sing. On keys we have Percy, bass Lewis, and the naysayer on the drums is Levi.” I shake his hand firmly. “Willow.” “Cool, you ready?” Half an hour later I’m sitting in a group with the guys. They’re in a semi circle facing me. “So… Willow?” I nod. “How long have you been a girl?” Lewis asks. “Are you serious?” “No, thought it would be funny.” “Right,” Graham cuts in. “Here’s our rehearsal and show schedule. We want to stay busy this summer, so if you have any outstanding conflicts this might not be the best arrangement for you. It’s really important that you keep a clean image. In a way, you’re the face of our band. You’re the one everyone hears the most and you’re the one most people will be looking at.” Lots of pressure I guess. I’ve kept a clean state, and I believe I’m a nice face to look at. I used to do some modeling before I started college. When my contract expired I decided to not renew it. “I don’t think we have to worry about the image thing, she’s pretty and for bonus points she’s black. 2 minorities.” Percy smiles at me. He sure said it. We’re both black. To provide a better picture of eveyrone in the room, Graham is tall and lanky with long-ish flowy brown hair. Lewis looks just like him. Like seriously identical, if they say they’re not related there’s not a chance I’d believe them. The only different is Lewis has shorter hair. Kind of like the standard for a band leader of this caliber. Percy is talk and black with a shaved head bleached blond. Levi is tall and pretty muscular. I’m the height you’d expect rod a female model. Honestly I never stood out on the runway. I prefer to keep my hair straight with extensions since it’s much easier to manage. After being added to their text chain I have 1 question. “What’s your band name?” “Palin Drome.” Graham responds. Seemingly really proud of this name. “Ok, cool. I’ll see you tomorrow I guess.” I’m officially part of a band with one of the dumbest names I’ve ever heard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Listen up guys! Our first gig EVER is tomorrow night! We have to lock in. No room for failure today and definitely no room for failure tomorrow.” I’m a little nervous. We just have a cover set for now, we haven’t been playing long enough to figure out our sound. Our set list Red Wine Supernova - Chappell Roan Theatre - Etta Marcus Nothing Matters - Last Dinner Party Everlong - Foo Fighters

I’ve been practicing with these guys for about a month almost every day. They’re all super nice to me except for Levi. I don’t know what’s up with that guy. I’m super nice to him. I say hi and bye and ask questions but he completely ignores me. I asked Percy about it and apparently he’s only like this with me. Great. I try not to think about it but it bugs me so much. What did I do to him? Did I say something weird? Do I looke unapproachable? Is he racist? The last one is the most extreme I know he’s not because he and Percy are practically best friends. Maybe he hates women. Like one of those Reddit incels. But that wouldn’t make any sense either because I’m literally the only person he treats this way. We play through the set so many times I’m worried we’ll start sucking, And that would be terrible because we sound great. I was worried I wouldn’t mesh well with these guys who’d know each other for so long before but I think I fit great.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It’s an hour before the party we’re set to play it is supposed to start and I’m freaking. I’ve been set up warmed up and tuned for about an hour already and I’ve just been waiting for everyone to show up so we can rehearse. I’m not entirely alone though, Levi’s here. He’s been setting up his drum set in complete silence. I said hi when he walked in, still silence. But it’s fine I’m sure I’ll get out of something To help with the nerves I decide to take a shot, or 2. Instantly feel better. I absolutely despise the taste of vodka but I love the way I feel after it. I offer Levi a shot and surprisingly he acknowledges me, but just for a second to take the drink from my hand. I feel great. I’m pumped and ready. The set we play is absolutely perfect. I’m elated. So naturally, I start to party. I’m throwing back drinks when all of a sudden I feel this weird sense of dread. I feel terrible, like something’s wrong that I need to sort out. Then I realize, this bullshit with Levi. I spot him across the room talking up some girls. When we make I contact I make a beeline for him dragging him in to the nearest room and shutting the door behind me. Before he can open his mouth to protest I start. “I need to ask you something extremely important.” No response, great. “But seriously I need an answer.” “Fine.” “Why do you hate me?” He looks at me with a confused look. “I don’t hate you Willow.” “Okay, then why are you so weird to me?” Oh jeez, and now I’m crying. “I don’t know.” What a stupid answer. He knows exactly why he treats me the way he does. “You hate me.” I’m drunk and sobbing to this guy who’s opinion of me doesn’t matter. “No, I don’t.” “You do.” “I don’t, Willow. I have to go.” And he leaves. He leaves! What the fuck. He leaves me sobbing in some random guys bedroom in some random guys house. He’s such a dick.

Notes: Ty for reading! pls give likes if you enjoyed it and feel free to add any suggestions you’d like to see!

[miredinmiddleearth]

Rings of Power, Ep. 7 Review - RIP

I’ve made it this far...Buckle up, mellon. Time for my thoughts on episode seven:

1. Dang. Everyone survived. Whelp, except that guy whose name I neither remember nor care to remember.

2. Wait, they SURVIVED?! Heat alone would do the trick, but pretending they survive the heat, that’s not snow they’re walking through! The ash would finish off anyone left! Look, LotR doesn’t have the best history with believability when it comes to volcanoes, but Rings of Power keeps professing it is meant to feel grittier and more realistic. So much for that, I guess.

3. The scene where Durin begs his father to help Elrond is actually poignant...and it makes me angry. Here’s why -

Lore/book reason the dwarves awake a Balrog: they were too greedy and dug too deep.

RoP reason the dwarves awake a Balrog: Durin is desperate to help his friend.

Writers, do you not see how thematically misaligned and stupid you are being?!

4. So now we know how the mithril cures the darkness. Apparently you just sit beside it. Wait, that begs the question, why do you even need to mine for mithril? Couldn’t the elves just book a mithril session and hang out int he caves for a bit? Totally cured.

5. Miss Pro-Genocide Galadriel gives a lecture on goodness and letting go of revenge. HA. That’s rich! Have we seen literally any evidence of a mind-change or reason she grew between the last episode and this one? Psh, no. Why would we need such a thing? 

6. I actually found the scene where Miriel realizes she’s been blinded quite decent, as well! Amazing! In an ACTUAL display of strength (not whatever fake nonsense we’ve seen the women display prior), Miriel must maintain composure and pretend she can see so she can be strong for her people. They actually did something good? 

Don’t make me laugh. The next time we see her, she’s wearing a blindfold, not hiding her blindness in ANY way. Apparently she only needed to fake being strong for a short horse ride.

7. When the heck did they have time to set up camp? At least the show is consistent. They’ll always fail to include what’s actually relevant. 

8. Apparently we need to waste time worrying that Isildur, the incredibly vital character from later tales, is dead. Great use of time. Proof upon proof upon proof of the ineptitude of the writers.

9. Galadriel finally said her brother’s name! Her primary motivation, and it only took 7 episodes for his name to get dropped.

10. Celeborn DEAD?! They had me going for a second. But no. Clearly gotta come back (Galadriel says he went away to war and never returned). Still, super stupid. Brother motivates her but apparently couldn’t care less about her hubby. Also, she met Celeborn because he came upon her dancing? Seriously? You couldn’t give them their own meet cure? You had to steal Luthien and Beren’s?

11. Durin is going to mine all the mithril by himself? Great plan, dude.

12. So are we supposed to dislike the dwarf king? Because I don’t dislike him. Mining mithril is not safe. Period.

13. Cool burning of harfoot carts, but unclear how many perished. Unfortunately, I think they all survived. Alas.

14. SIgh. Bronwyn survived, too. Also, watching her fling her arms around her son’s neck reminds me that she was shot through the shoulder the day before. Healed up nice and dandy, apparently. Also, she’s awfully clean for someone that went through a volcanic blast.

15. I laughed the hardest I’ve ever laughed in this show when Nori’s dad gives his brethren a pep talk. He says the harfoots, better than anyone else, “stay true to each other.” I CACKLED. Harfoots stick together? The same harfoots who wanted to leave you behind. Who wanted to take off your wheels and leave you to die. Who didn’t offer a single ounce of assistance when you were injured. THOSE harfoots?! (The laughter continued when harfoot who proposed murder is declared “always right.”)

16. Halbrand survives to show his pretty face another day. HIs wound is infected and he must be gotten to the elves!

Oh wait, he’s fine. Walking around like the wound is nothing. No? He still needs immediate aid that will require a very long horseride? Okay...

17. I know they’re shooting for Disa sounding inspirational and supportive of her husband, but to me she just sounds straight up evil in that speech at the end? SHE sounds greedy and possessive and manipulative. Definitely don’t think that’s what they were going for...

18. Ah. She we’re not just changing greedy dwarvish motivations to helping a friend, we’re adding that a leaf woke the Balrog. What is this, Kung Fu Panda?

19. The introduction of Mordor’s name made me roll my eyes.

Just one episode left. Just one. The end is in sight. (Yes, I know they’ve started filming season 2).

[child-of-peace]

I’m trying to figure out the timeline of Headless and this is what I have so far:

We know for a fact that Ichabod’s court session was on a Monday, so we’ll centre it on that: Episode 5 takes place on a Monday and will be our touchstone. So looking at the earlier episodes, Episode 4 must take place on Sunday. The episode exists in a single day and towards the end of it, Ichabod gets a reminder that he would be in court the next day.

Episode 3 is a little more uncertain. I think it must start before Saturday (it spans two days and given Douffé gets stabbed, there was definitely at least a day before Ichabod turned up at the drugstore on Sunday) so maybe it’s Friday-Saturday. Episode 2 has Ichabod and Brom teaching, so is definitively a school day, so I’d reckon it’s most likely Thursday, but it could also be Wednesday. As for Episode 1, Ichabod said in Episode 5 that he’d been in Sleepy Hollow for less than a week, so the earliest day he could have moved there was Tuesday. (Again, it could also be Wednesday.)

Now for the episodes after Episode 5, Episode 6 must take place on Tuesday. Kat asks Ichabod after his court session to dinner with her dad the next day.

Episode 7 starts on Tuesday late evening, but it spans three days. At no point does it definitively say that the next part happens the following day, though given their rush and the likelihood of Ichabod having studied Elizabeth Van Tassel’s diary Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, it would be safe to assume that the next part takes place on Wednesday. Except, Brom, in Episode 9, says that Ichabod started his community service on 7th October, which, in 2022, was a Friday.

There are three possible explanations for this. 1) Brom is just wrong - given that Brom says their google calendars are linked and Ichabod doesn’t have a google calendar, Brom may have been confused. 2) This show does not take place in 2022 - I thought it was, but now I’m not entirely sure. The last time 7th October was on a Wednesday was in 2020. 3) It is a Friday, and it took them a couple of days after Tuesday to figure out the matching symbols in Anneke’ and Davy “Gravy” Jones’ books.

So, for the sake of this, I’m going to go with Option 1: Part 2 of Episode 7 takes place on Wednesday. Part 3 of Episode 7, therefore, takes place on Thursday. Brom says he’ll go ask Lucretia to see the basement and we’re told that happens the next day.

That means Episode 8 also takes place on Thursday. Lucretia says to Brom that she has a wedding that very day and that’s when the heist happens.

If Episode 8 is Thursday, Episode 9 must be Friday. Each head only lasts 24 hours and Paulie is still active. It must start in the late morning/early afternoon, since the gang starts off in jail and then, an hour later, Paulie shows up and his head promptly dissolves naturally.

This means that the gang were in jail for at least 10 hours - the heist canonically took 15 minutes on Thursday afternoon/early evening. And finally, Episode 10. The start of this episode would take place on Friday evening (or Sunday evening if we went with Option 3). Kat tells them after the jailbreak to head to her house later that evening for “the world’s weirdest scavenger hunt”.

We know when midnight hits as that is definitively stated, so we know it filters over into Saturday (or Monday), and the gang walk around with Henrietta in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Also, I don’t know how American school terms work, but I’m assuming that Episode 5-10 take place during half term (I think the American equivalent is semester break?), since Ichabod and Brom don’t seem to spend any time in school. Half term for us is typically the last week of October, but I’m not sure how semester break works (I did try to look it up, but couldn’t find anything) so could it be early October?

Me, writing this post:

Anyway, what do other people think? Have I missed anything obvious?

To simplify it:

Tuesday - 1️⃣

Thursday - 2️⃣

Friday - 3️⃣

Saturday - 3️⃣

Sunday - 4️⃣

Monday - 5️⃣

Tuesday - 6️⃣7️⃣

Wednesday - 7️⃣

Thursday - 7️⃣8️⃣

Friday - 9️⃣🔟

Saturday - 🔟

[elizabethplaid]

feb 15 notes, part 2!

Today's a game of good-news/bad-news, but I'm feelin' pretty chuffed (not my usual slang, but it feels right). Notes from earlier in the day are here.

Starts with some bullet-points, then into slightly longer discussion of the near-future.

G- Was in bed and horizontal before 7:30am, phone down before 9am

B- Woke up a couple-few times, maybe got 4 hours of sleep total.

B- Woke by realizing I was picking at my skin in my sleep

G- Put on lotion instead of picking at my skin more, to help me calm down. Somewhat helpful? Clearly, I need to stim, but I need it in a more positive sense than picking.

N- Up and out of bed around 1:30ish. Little jittery but mentally fine.

G- Used acetone to remove my nail polish, then clipped my nails. It's been like 3-4 weeks since the last clip. (Should help with picking, I hope)

N- Nearly out of acetone. Considering I got that big bottle 10+ years ago, that's pretty good. Will need to get another bottle of that and maybe some non-acetone nail polish remover, specifically for non-hobby use.

G- Our late-xmas Amazon order items are arriving. Today was a new camera remote (for the dslr) and a Breaking Benjamin cd

------------

I plan to knit this evening, hopefully catch up with the YT videos I've been avoiding. (I'd wanted to be in a certain mindset while making the bracelets, so I limited what I'd watch during those instances.)

Need to revisit some of last night's music. There was a fun compilation of 90s music, and a few songs were delightful nostalgia. Got misty with a few, too. Those and the ASMR thing from earlier are things I want to make separate posts about. Not quite a "crying log" like @champagnemanagement does, but at least wanting to note things for this time period (eg February, the time I've set aside for mental health).

I've asked to have stew for dinner on Sunday. That day marks 11 years since mom has passed. I had some metaphoric connection of her passing/my grief and stew, but I've forgotten the exact words. It's a comfort meal; it's got more veg than other things I eat. Dad was always more of a cook than mom. He likes to do all the work for this meal, but I enjoy getting to chat with him while he chops veg and such.

Phone friend has expressed interest in visiting, which I've mentioned to dad before. I hope to discuss these plans with my dad, while he's busy prepping the stew. I think dad and phone friend would get along well in person. But we're gonna hang out in Ellsworth for this visit, rather than hanging out in my town. (I still plan to inflict the "Pledge of Allegiance" Burma Shave signs on them, muahaha.)

Amid all our texting, I've had some good insights - stuff worthy of recounting to my counselor. So I'm thinking of taking screenshots, then transcribing the images. I have another week until the next session, so I have time to at least skim for notes. I like having that record, for better recollection and processing of info for later.

Revisiting older notes from previous years earlier has been helpful. Certainly gives me perspective and comfort about how far I've come. When going through some books a couple days ago, I found my copy of Steven Levenkron's "Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutilation", including some notes I stashed between the pages. I'm curious to observe my growth since those days (ie 2009). Though I didn't cut, my skin-picking has been similar.

I know that this isn't LiveJournal, and I don't reveal all my thoughts and secrets like I used to on that platform. But I hope some of these discussions might help others, as I have been helped by others' writings over the years. The shame and stigma of mental health adventures will still linger, even as our cultural understanding develops over time. Sharing these bits of our inner-selves with others gives me hope that we'll be okay in the end. Progress is progress, even in tiny bits and steps.

[kelliealtogether]

I'm a data nerd, and this will probably not be interesting to anyone else, but I tracked stats on What It All Could Be while I posted and decided to perform some analyses because I'm a loser with nothing else to do with my time. The fic is now complete, but today is the day I would have updated, so I figured it was a good day to cap tracking and look at what's going on.

*This is data analysis for my own pleasure. It's not in any way meant to boast, induce guilt, etc. I like doing this stuff because I find it interesting (and it's the part of my big girl job that makes me want to tear my hair out the least).

Chaptered fics are a long game. I think every fanfic writer knows, anecdotally, that with each chapter posted, hits go up a lot and kudos go up a little.

Here's something less anecdotal:

I captured current hits and kudos each time I updated What It All Could Be. As one can see, both increased chapter-over-chapter, but the hits rise at a far greater magnitude than kudos. This is understandable. Unless a reader uses a workaround, they can only leave one kudos on a chaptered fic, but each time they visit, it's registered as a hit, so hits will naturally increase more than kudos. More on kudos in a bit.

As far as hits per chapter, there was a relatively steady-ish increase over time with a big jump when the final chapter and epilogue were posted. The trendline does go up over the course of the fic, and even at the end, it's pretty much in line with the trend of the data I posted before. Notably though, there are a few chapters that clocked less hits than the chapters immediately before them (I'm looking at you, Chapters 8, 15, and 17).

Chapters 8 and 15 were posted on Tuesdays, along with Chapter 4. This leads me to believe if a writer is looking for readers, Tuesday probably isn't the day to post (but this assumption is based entirely on a chaptered fic updated regularly, and three data points is not enough to draw real, significant conclusions. I'd be interested to see this same kind of data on one-shots.). Chapter 17 was posted on a Sunday, which happened to be Christmas Eve, and in the following week, people in large swaths of the world had far more important things to do than read fanfic. They should have been eating, drinking, and being merry. I only did one other update on a Sunday, Chapter 10, so I'm not drawing any conclusions on posting on Sundays.

Now for kudos.

This is pretty much what I expected. Relatively steady kudos across chapters while updating, and then a spike at the end after the fic was completed. I know there are readers who won't read WIPs, but keep tabs on them to read as soon as they're complete.

As for who was leaving kudos...

At the time of this post, What It All Could Be has 482 kudos, 252 from users, 230 from guests.

This shocked me a little. Based on previous fics posted, I expected the user/guest kudos ratio to be more in favor of users. I didn't think it would be almost evenly split. I don't think readers are "gaming" Ao3 to any great extent, e.g. using different IP addresses to leave guest kudos, using an incognito session, or logging out to leave a guest kudos after leaving one as a logged in user. But I still would be interested in seeing actual unique reader kudos. The only way I can think to test this would be to lock a fic for Ao3 users only, because then a guest wouldn't be able to see the fic at all to leave kudos in the first place. 🤔

Now it's time to turn to comments.

Here are hits, kudos, and comments, side by side.

Since I try to reply to comments, I calculated comments per chapter by taking the total number of comments on a chapter and divided it by two. You can see hits go up, but engagement (if you want to call it that) stays steady chapter to chapter. Even at the end, there's no great "spike" in comments. And as to who leaves comments, at the time of this post, What It All Could Be has 276 comment threads per my Ao3 stats page. 63 unique users left comments on the fic, a few of whom left comments on every chapter and led to some really thought-provoking discussion on soulmarks (I love you guys 😘).

Anyway, I had fun doing this, and, again, it's not meant as anything more than stupid analyses of stuff that doesn't really matter, done for my own enjoyment. I might do it again on a one-shot someday because I'm a data nerd and I like graphs, but we shall see. ✌️

[vioisgoinginsane]

Silvio chapter 14-15

THEY ARE FINALLY CAUGHT UP WITH THE PLOT INSTEAD OF 10 STEPS BEHIND thanks chev, for bringing us up to plot but also, what the hell do you mean the king of benitoite AND THE OBSIDIAN EMPEROR is gonna be involved in this??? *cold sweats*

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 RIO I LOVE YOU AND WE'RE GONNA, GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER

FUXK OFF

HOW FUCKING DARE YOU KIDNAP MY MAN

Oh but at least MC knows they're brothers now but silvio got some kinda reason to not tell him anything about himself. It might even be one we already know but i forgot cuz I've obviously haven't been paying attention to the right things... I've been paying attention to the.... Pretty things instead. 👀

There's only ONE revolting creep around here and I'm looking at him.

....

.......

Oh my god did he just make me defend Chev?????

Also he tells me never to talk alone with gilbert again cuz I suck at lying, which is true, fine, i can't say otherwise. That would be the smart thing to do (good thing I'm either stupid or insane)

Hm... I think could chug on that cool aid, if i didn't get MORE of a kick out of surprising him.

Oh no darling, mc, you didn't underestimate gil exactly! He was always gonna be worse than you can possibly imagine!! So of course trying to imagine it was pretty pointless! (Says woman with a unique tag for my gilbert overthinking and theories)

"In a way that's worse than solving things with violence"

It is?.... Oh shit yeah, that's right it is... BAD. very bad. Very bad for us....But i don't think I could say it's WORSE than the senseless violence of war, it's just taking the field over to the mental realm instead of just the physical one. I have no idea what this dude does with a country once he conquers it and, realistically, i don't really wanna fuck around and find out about that for sure. .. But choosing to do things diplomatically, so as to minimize damage on your citizen and your army when your country is known for getting into a bunch of wars sounds damn near revolutionary by their standards.

*to myself* stay STRONG violet, stay STRONG...

Holy fuckinh shit they finally wrote an avatar story (normal mind you) that doesn't disgust me! (How is this... This route's biggest achievement so far??) It's just MC unintentionally giving silvio some strength cuz she genuinely can't imagine him bowing down whatever whim the king has if he doesn't agree to it and apparently that was too gosh darn cute of her not to merit a hug and then they're both blushing

If

If only rio wasn't at the door to see that 😭

And Gilbert two steps behind him for part two of his mansplain gasslight manipulate session

Gggggggggghhh yalls don't know how much I'm eating up how the foil to being able to manipulte people like that is to have a surprising amount of empathy. Again. What fucked you up like this????

Also YOU AND YOUR STUPID POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW LOOK. NO. YA AIN'T GETTING THE BEST OF ME

🙃if you force it upon people then it's not kindness *bonks him* (I'll have a jester's death, thanks)

SILVIO I'M NOT SURE AND I DON'T WANNA JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS BUT I GET A FEELING LIKE MAYBE IT WOULDN'T HAVE WENT LIKE THIS IF YOU TOLD RIO ABOUT HIS MEMORIES IDK MAN

K so after this... I'm not sure if gil got what he wanted (... I should probably assume yes gil always gets what he wants...) But rio started making up excuses so MC doesn't go see silvio and when she asks what Thats about rio just asks her to stay away so he doesn't hurt her, HE'S LITERALLY BEGGING ME HOW HE NEVER HAS BEFORE GAME HOW TF AM SUPPOSED TO DO THAT TO HIM????

Oh and silvio's sulking about missing (won't admit it tho) and getting drunk with keith and complaining about women

And keith's like "dude that's NOT all women. How do you have luck so terrible with women??" And we know the answer is mommy issues with a side of "this is just what being rich and a prince is like" except it isn't cuz I've seen the women that confess to valerio. They fall in love with him cuz he's considerate, kind, attentive (altho he only ever did anything for himself and according to him it wasn't "real kindness" but he was never needlessly cruel either) anyways, silvio and his stupid dumbass think mc's gonna show her true colors that she's nasty like all women so yeah his, denial and bias issues are still going strong

[mstrickster]

Prompt for Banksway: Needing to finish a project and the dorms being too loud. Charlie and Adam go home to (you choose), so that they can get their work done. Being roommates has made the two boys rather comfortable with each other, so when they start their work, they fall into their ways and it’s a first for (you choose)‘s mom to see her son like that.

You can choose if they are just friends or more :)

The other ducks would just say: that’s Charlie and Adam/Banks/Banksie that’s just how they are.

It took a bit but here it is! Thank you for the prompt, Nonnie! Now on A03

“Now, are we are adding in something about the symbolism of the door?” Charlie asked.

Adam and him were currently working on a presentation for their English. They had to choose a book to read and then present a brief summary. They also had to find examples for different literary devices.

They had no trouble picking the book they would present on. Both agreed on a new release, Coraline. Charlie liked the main character and Adam enjoyed the terror elements. It was a good choice.

“I think we should,” Adam replied, “It is the easiest one to point out.”

Charlie nodded and scratched a note onto the paper he was holding. They had been working for a few hours, but had barely made it through their brainstorming session.

It seemed like every time they would really get going something would interrupt the pair. The first time is happened they brushed it off. However, by the third time it was getting on their nerves.

This was the one time Adam wished for some peace from his friends and their constant issues. This presentation was almost half their grade.

However, it had been a solid 20 minutes since they had been interrupted so Adam was feeling a bit more hopeful. Unfortunately that little hope had apparently jinxed it as loud banging cut thorough their work like a knife.

“Charlie!,” Goldberg called from outside the door, “Averman locked me out of our dorm!”

Adam huffed in annoyance and Charlie agreed with a groan of his own.

“We are never going to get this finished,” Adam rubbed his temples, he didn’t need a headache too.

“Maybe, we should go somewhere else?” Charlie suggested.

“Where?! We’ve tried the library, the common area, the cafeteria, even outside under the arch!” Adam listed off, “Everywhere we go they find us.”

“Charlie!” Goldberg shouted again, “I know you’re in there!”

Charlie glared at the door, “Pack up our stuff, we can take refuge at my house.”

“Will your mom mind?” Adam asked.

“No, she’s at work still,” Charlie replied, “Just pack everything up, I will help Goldie and then meet you at my truck.”

Adam sighed and shrugged, “It would at least give us more time before we were found.”

“Right, I’ll meet you outside in 15...hopefully,” Charlie threw his keys at Adam before opening the door, “Alright, Goldie let’s get you back inside your room.”

“Thank you,” Goldberg replied, “He’s being completely unreasonable.”

Charlie just nodded as he followed Goldberg to his dorm. Averman did this once a week so he usually had an idea of what the issue was.

Adam waited until he could barely hear Charlie and Goldberg anymore before he started packing up their supplies. As he snuck the supplies out to Charlie’s truck he prayed no one saw him. It was bad enough Charlie was always getting sidetracked to help with team problems, Adam didn’t need to be captured too. Thankfully, he made it to the truck without anyone noticing.

Adam miraculously managed to open the truck door without spilling anything. He carefully crammed everything in the tiny backseat. When he was satisfied nothing would fall out, he shut the door and got in the passenger seat.

Adam collapsed into the seat and checked his watch. He hadn’t check the clock before he had left the dorm, but he didn’t think too much time had passed. Adam noted the time on his watch before he shuffled slightly to get comfy.

Adam had dozed off slightly when Charlie got to the truck about 10 minutes later. Adam jumped lightly and yawned when the car opened.

“Did you have a nice nap, sleeping beauty?” Charlie teased.

Adam ignored the comment, checking his watch.

“Only about 15 minutes,” Adam observed.

“I said 15 minutes didn’t I?” Charlie replied, starting the car up.

“You said hopefully,” Adam smirked.

“Yeah well what I meant to say was definitely,” Charlie reasoned, pulling out of his assigned parking spot.

“Right,” Adam replied, clearly unconvinced.

Charlie ignored him, choosing to focus his attention on the road. Although that was pretty unnecessary, Charlie could probably drive to his apartment blindfolded.

The boys took the short ride to talk about what else they wanted to point out in their presentation. Charlie really wanted to focus on the control the Other Mother had over the people in her world. Adam liked that topic, but suggested they also talk about how the people in the other world react to her.

They had gotten more brainstorming done in that short drive than they did those few hours in their dorm.

Charlie parked in one of the guest parking spots, put the car into park and turned it off.

“Our supplies are on your side, right?” Charlie asked, removing the keys.

Adam nodded, “We can split the pile.”

“You’re too kind,” Charlie joked.

“I should make you carry it all inside, because I had to carry it out to the truck,” Adam threatened.

“You wouldn’t do that, Banksie, I need to unlock the door,” Charlie smirked.

Adam rolled his eyes, shook his head, unlocked his door and got out.

Charlie laughed and followed his lead, meeting Adam on the other side of the car. The boys hefted the supplies out of the back and lugged them up the stairs to the second floor. Charlie leaned against the wall and fished his keys out of his pocket. He quickly unlocked the door and they both hurried in to off load their supplies on the kitchen table.

“Whew,” Charlie said, “I’m glad this is only a two story complex.”

“Me too,” Adam agreed.

Charlie took a moment to stretch and shake out his arms before rummaging through their pile for his notebook and a pencil. Adam did the same and they quickly began to write up the ideas they had in the car.

Thanks to the quiet of the apartment they managed to finally start decorating their posterboard and fill out all the missing information.

****

Casey Conway smiled when she saw her son’s truck parked outside the apartment complex. Charlie usually visited every few days. Unfortunately, he has been working on a big project so she hadn’t seen him since Sunday when they had their weekly dinner.

She parked the car and pulled the takeout containers from her car. She had been able to take home some turkey with gravy and mashed potatoes. As well as half a pecan pie and some dinner rolls. She was always thankful for anything the diner provided, but she was really looking forward to this meal.

She carefully climbed the stairs and pushed open her door.

“Hey Charlie!” She called out, happily, “Oh and Adam.” Casey set down the takeout on the counter.

“Hi mom,” Charlie smiled and paused his work to hug his mother.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” Casey released her son with a kiss to the cheek before engulfing Adam in a hug as well.

“We needed to get away so we could finish this project,” Adam explained hugging her back, “We kept getting interrupted.”

“Well, I am always happy to have you over, both of you,” Casey said cupping Adam’s cheek gently before releasing him, “Have you eaten?”

“Actually no,” Charlie replied, “We have been working so hard I guess we missed dinner.”

“Well, you’re in luck,” Casey pulled off her jacket and hung it on the coat rack, “Ernie sent me home with some leftover turkey, potatoes, buns, and half a pecan pie.”

“That sounds amazing,” Charlie said.

“Can you stop for a moment?” Casey asked, going over and getting down some plates.

“We’re almost done and we need to eat,” Adam noted.

Charlie smiled at his friend, “Let us clear off the table and we can help you.”

“Leave it, we’ll eat in the living room,” Casey replied, already separating the food onto three portions.

“Thanks, mom,” Charlie smiled, gratefully.

“Come on, before it gets cold,” Casey said holding out a plate. Charlie sighed happily and took the plate, hurrying to the living room.

“I can get us some drinks,” Adam offered.

“Thank you, dear,” Casey smiled, carrying the other two plates to the living room, “We should have some juice in the fridge.”

Adam nodded and quickly poured out their drinks, carrying them to the living room.

“Thank you,” Casey said taking her drink.

“Thank you for dinner,” Adam replied.

Casey watched as the boys seem to inhale their food and desserts. She was glad Ernie had given her a lot.

Adam and Charlie offered to load the dishwasher while Casey relaxed. She smiled as she watched them move around each other. They seem to move in sync, knowing exactly where the other was to avoid a collusion. After they had finished cleaning up they returned to their project.

Casey can’t recall ever seeing Charlie this comfortable with someone. They worked off each other with ease. If Charlie teased him, Adam came back with an equally devastating quip. She thought it was adorable. Casey always thought Adam was a quiet kid, but she could see now he just needed someone to bring him out of his shell.

The boys quickly put the finishing touches on their project before stepping back and looking it over.

“I think we did great, Banksie,” Charlie grinned.

“Now, we just have to present it,” Adam replied.

Charlie groaned, “You had to remind me.”

“Relax, we have until Tuesday to practice,” Adam reassured him.

“Well, that should be easier even with interruptions,” Charlie noted. Adam nodded in agreement.

“Thanks for the space, mom,” Charlie called out while they began to pack up their project.

“Anytime, you two work well together,” She said with a wide smile.

Charlie looked between himself and Adam briefly, “I suppose we do.”

[shoheiakagi]

Hi, what's up?

So💝💖🌹🌺💌🥀for Dewa and Fujishima cause this two need some attention,please.

And thank you.

Hiii, i’m good! Hope youre doing well! And I wholeheartedly agree - these two need a lot more love. granted, ive had more asks for dewa than fuji for a lot of the ask games i reblogged, but i will never say no to more dewa content

Send me an emoji + a character!

💝 - What's their love language?

Dewa: acts of service and quality time. Dewa is a man of action and prefers to show his love by helping you create an effective budget plan, clean up the apartment before you get back from a long day of work, etc. He’s very serious about spending enough quality time with his partner; a nice little dinner where they talk about their day, watching a true crime documentary, and attending a local jazz concert. But sometimes its the more simple stuff where they’re both in the living room doing their own thing but comforted by each other’s presence

Fujishima: words of affirmation and acts of service. Fujishima is always supportive, encouraging his partner whenever they’re feeling upset or insecure. When his partner texts him about having a rough day at school/work, fuji calls them right away and spends at least 10-15 minutes on the phone with them, knowing the right things to say to cheer them up. He sometimes even picks up their favorite meal and pastry to brighten their day. Fuji is always looking for ways to help out his partner; whether its washing the dishes, taking out the trash, or picking up groceries when he notices theyre out of stock on certain items

💖 - What traits does your muse find physically attractive?

Dewa: he really likes well defined eyebrows; the type that are dark and thick, and you can tell that they’re maintained frequently (those monthly eyebrow waxing/threading sessions!). but he also finds necks very attractive, especially those that are long and slim. It serves as a great contrast to his calloused hands when he wraps them around the neck.

Fujishima: the first thing he notices about someone is their smile. he’s a sucker for gorgeous and vibrant smiles, especially paired with dimples??? our man is in love! fuji also likes a set of small, pouty lips bc theyre fun for kissing 😽

🌹 - If asked to define love what would your muse say?

Dewa: compatibility. The strongest and longest lasting relationships don’t just rely on love, but also on how compatible the people involved are

Fujishima: lifetime commitment. When you’re in love, you’re going to stick through all the bad times, along with the good times

🌺 - Would they be willing to change any part of them for a partner? If not how far would they be willing to go

Dewa: at first, he won’t be very receptive to any feedback that requires him to change. it will hurt his ego a bit and it’ll take him a while to come around. but after taking some time to think things through, he finally opens up to his partner and have a healthy discussion on what their relationship needs and what kind of compromises both parties will need to make so that the relationship lasts

Fujishima: i think it really depends on what he needs to be changed. I don’t think he will ever put an end to certain traits of his, liking rescuing stray and abandoned animals (and humans). But if it comes to concerns like him not receiving a formal education or getting a stable job, i think fuji might be more understanding and probably attend a trade school so that he can land a well paying job without having to go to college

💌 - How would they confess to their love interest? Would they wait on a confession?

Dewa: it takes a while for dewa to realize his feelings and that yes, this is the person he’s been waiting for. He plans an elaborate date, filled with a variety of flowers and accompanied by the most expensive wine he can afford (per kusanagi’s suggestion), to make his confession

Fujishima: Fuji is very perceptive of his emotions, so he’s casual and straight to the point once he realizes his feelings. Its probably when they’re having a little outing at the park, taking a stroll by the pond and feeding the nearby birds, when he casually tells the other person that he has strong feelings for them and would like to take their relationship to the next level. And he has his classic poker face on while making his confession, which makes it a little hard for the other person to understand if he was being serious or not

🥀 - Do they handle breakups well?

Dewa: Answered here

Fujishima: out of all of the younger guys of hmr, fuji is the most emotionally mature. Like for everyone else, breakups are painful and there will be a period of time where he’s hurt, angry, and too exhausted to do anything else. But he quickly puts his focus on other things, like volunteering in the local no-kill animal shelter, carrying out more hmr related missions or spending more time in the bar with the gang, check out a new rock band, practice martial arts, etc. Once he gets busy and focuses on something else, he is able to move on quicker than he expected

[daughterofhecata]

I was tagged by @bruisesandbitemarks, thank you 💕

1. Are you named after anyone?

Originially, yes, my mum got my deadname from a book, but uh. I don’t use that anymore. “Kaj” actually comes from an old OC of mine (don’t judge!) and I took my middle name from Sebastian Moran.

2. When was the last time you cried?

No clue. I cry pretty rarely and try my best to block it out immediately afterwards 🤷‍♂️

3. Do you have kids?

Nope. And will never have any, at least not biologically.

4. Do you use sarcasm?

Jup. But apparently in a weird way because people often don’t catch it.

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

I try not to notice people. (No, seriously, I work customer service, I usually don’t look people in the face and I usually have forgotten everything about how they looked etc two seconds after they left.)

6. What's your eye color?

I like to pretend it’s this kind of greyish army green.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

hmmm both, depends on the movie and my mood.

8. Any special talents?

My brother says it’s “just whipping up some food” from what’s in the pantry anyway.

9. Where were you born?

Northern Germany, between Hamburg and Sylt, and that’s how specific I’ll get here.

10. What are your hobbies?

Writing, reading, I have actually come to enjoy cooking and baking a whole lot, and I’m trying to go swimming again more regularly.

11. Do you have any pets?

Nope!

12. What sports do you/have you played?

I used to fence, for like, eight years. Would like to take it up again, but, uh, not really interested in paying 20€ per month for one training session per week I might not even be able to attend regularly because of work/class.

13. How tall are you?

~1,73m, I think.

14. Favorite subject in school?

History, english depending on the teacher, and I really liked chemistry the two years I had it.

15. Dream job?

...author. No idea if that will ever work out. I keep telling my family I wanna work in a publishing house, just so they stop buggering me about “what do you do with a degree in slavic studies anyway???”

i have no clue who’s been tagged and who hasn’t, I’m just tagging @crazy-walls, @bistdueinbaum, @takealookintheback and @lesen-schreiben-bruchrechnen. If you want.